Joel Hoekstra Details Secret to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's Longevity

Somehow the orchestral heavy rock collective never fails to capture the hearts and imaginations of its fans.

Guitarist Joel Hoekstra tells Q104.3 New York's Jim Kerr and Shelli Sonstein that the incredible success is no accident. He says the whole production is the realization of TSO founder Paul O'Neill's vision — even now in the second iteration of the show since O'Neill's passing in the spring of 2017.

Hoekstra points out that with TSO, O'Neill created a live music spectacle with broad-ranging appeal that always tells a story.

"TSO, if you haven't seen it, is pretty hard to describe," Hoeskra explains. "Obviously, [there are] the hard rocking elements but mash that it with classical and the theatricality of Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Pink Floyd laser light show and the moving parts of the stage and the pyro [is] almost like a KISS concert."

It sounds like a show that doesn't know what it wants to be, but the reality is quite the opposite.

"So you've got a lot of things that are hard to describe — a hybrid. But in the end, there's something there for all ages. It's a crazy formula that Paul [O'Neill] came up with, that on paper, you'd say, 'Really? Is that going to work?' But here we are, packing arenas two shows a day. I couldn't be more proud to be a part of it."

And on top of all that, the show is remade every year! This season's show is the Ghost of Christmas Eve, one of O'Neill's rock operas from 1999.